Artists wanted to participate in special Women’s History Month exhibit
Arts Monongahela, located in Morgantown, has recently put out a call for artists to participate in a National Women’s History Month exhibit that will run March 3 through 24.
Sally Deskins, a member of the Arts Monongahela Board, said that the gallery is looking for submissions that cover a variety of media.
“We are definitely looking for visual art in all styles and media, 2 or 3-D, video or performance, written, spoken, that was inspired by – either literally or abstractly – a woman or women in West Virginia history (past or present),” she said. “We are also looking for proposals of events like poetry or theater readings, musical performances, presentations or the like. We’d like it to be an event full of celebrations for women in West Virginia!”
In order to participate, artists will need to provide information along with their work to Deskins by Dec. 30, which includes an abbreviated resume, a short statement about how the work or proposal is inspired by a woman or women in West Virginia history, include in the email a short statement why this piece is important to the Morgantown community, and the audiences the artist will be reaching with his or her work.
Visual arts will need to submit about five to seven images with title names along with the media, date, size and price.
Performance, literary, historical or other proposals will need to have a plan for the event including necessary time, set-up, technology that is required and more.
A full listing of the requirements can be found at artsmon.org.
Once the pieces ae submitted, curators Danielle Petrak and Eliza Newland will join Deskins in curating the exhibit and series of events.
The curators will be looking for a few things in order to include the submitted work.
“Mostly it will be judged on whether the person submitted something that is inspired by a woman/women in West Virginia history, and explained that to us in the submission email,” explained Deskins.
“Then we will look at the work we have submitted and see how we can fit and group it all together. It really depends on the submissions we get, how we will decide.”
After the works are chosen, Deskins said that the artists will be contacted to make sure they are committed to the exhibit and a meeting will be held to figure out the schedule of events, installation and de-installation.
For those wishing to participate, Deskins does have some words of advice and encouragement.
“This does not need to be something like a portrait of a woman (though it could be). Visit the art museum and write a poem about a piece of art by a woman from West Virginia , or think about the women in your life and create something that makes you think of them.
“Maybe there is a woman (or) women who founded your organization, or had an impact on your organization, or your craft or your organization’s craft,” she said. “Think broadly, this isn’t meant to be a portrait gallery but hopefully a more conceptual, exciting and inviting experience.
“We encourage collaborations with individuals and organizations -we want this to be beneficial for all the arts in Morgantown and the region – if your nonprofit would like to put together a presentation about a woman and then speak about your organization’s mission, send us a proposal!
“We really want this to be fun and another way to honor the so many women who have made an impact in West Virginia,” Deskins said.
Deskins hopes that this exhibit will really shine the spotlight on women who have had an impact on their community and the state of West Virginia, as well as serve as a showcase for the artists, creatives and arts organizations in the community.
“I hope they (visitors to the gallery) are excited and inspired to go to other arts organizations and take in more art, while also learning something about women in West Virginia history,” she said.
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For more information about this exhibit or about Arts Monongahela, go online to artsmon.org.